The videos consist of an unidentified man approaching people on the streets of Seattle and other parts of the region, standing or sitting next to them and taking video of them without explanation. This frequently results in angry or frustrated responses from his subjects. When asked what he’s doing, he responds by simply saying that he’s taking a video.

His tactics aside, his videos highlight an issue that will become more common as Google itself pushes forward with its Google Glass high-tech augmented reality glasses, which include video recording capabilities. One bar in Seattle has already banned the glasses pre-emptively.

We sent a message to Creepy Cameraman on YouTube this weekend, but haven’t heard back.

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Comments

Thank you, Google. You’ve shown why we trust you more than we trust psychopaths with camcorders.

Do as I say, not as I do

Thank you, Google. You’ve shown that you’re the biggest hypocrite on the web.

Guest

Hypocrite? Google protects our privacy. I don’t see Googlass uploading video of strangers to YouTube for public ridicule, as this man did. To the contrary, Goo has removed this hateful video and has guarded against more like it.

That article (1) is from TechCrunch, not a reliable source of news; and (2) concerns Germany, a company in Europe, a continent whose anti-American-technology bias has been documented year after year. We can safely ignore it.

Muah

Would you do me a favor and maybe go and lay under a rock and stay there…. since you are clearly a waste of resources, air, space and everything else

Muah

You are either a Google employee or an Idiot… I go for idiot, since most Google employees are just bastards

George Babbitt

Good riddance. That guy wasn’t an advocate or activist, he was just a creeper that liked to freak people out. If he did have any kind of message, it was never shared the people on camera, so it doesn’t exist.

Muah

You should really take a neutral stance, see what you have written and then get kicked back into reality……… How many unwanted pictures and videos are taken with a phone….. now imagine it is not something in sight as a phone, but just glasses…… please….. shut up and go with the rest of the ignorant and jump off a cliff

George Babbitt

Of course millions of images and videos are being taken every day without our knowledge, but this guy isn’t making any point when he presents himself as an imminent threat to the victims of his personal crusade without any evangelism being done at the moment of action, it is an empty act of harassment.

Funny how he never did this with cops, or bikers, or thugs. Nor is he proving anything about surveillance in society. CCTV is there – ostensibly – to protect people. He’s simply doing this for no reason other than to provoke a reaction.

Muah

Follow George Babbitt and jump with him off that cliff! Thank you!

Guest

Please delete your death threat. Cyber bullying has no place here.

Roger Kamben

Trust Google?? One can only speculate who called Google and shouted into the handset. I’ve never seen a better way to highlight the issues of surveillance in our society and the stark contrast in reaction from the public. Random strangers filming you is annoying but it’s not a threat to democracy and freedom. It goes to show how irrational and emotionally driven most people are and just don’t think at all. When most people starts getting an immediate emotional reaction spurning them to fight governments breach of privacy the police state will already have been firmly established..